[moderate shelfwear to bottom edge and top of spine; jacket has a few small closed tears, some paper loss at top spine corners, general rubbing and edgewear]. A "realistic, powerful, and outspoken novel about the world of professional baseball," by the author of one of the undisputed non-fiction classics in the field, "Eight Men Out," about the 1919 Black Sox scandal. View more info

[nice copy, apparently unread, small red "A" at upper corner of rear pastedown; jacket shows just the slightest trace of handling wear]. The author' s first novel, and a classic of modern baseball fiction. Although set in the modern era, the book's protagonist, John Barr, who plays "with a single-minded ferocity that makes his New York Mets team all but invincible," was reportedly based somewhat on the legendary Ty Cobb. View more info

[nice copy, minimal wear to bottom edge, previous owner's signature on ffep]. "Relentlessly realistic novel of the United States tennis circuit," by an author who was himself a highly-ranked player. View more info

[covers clean and bright, tiny nick at right edge of front cover, very slight bump/dog-earing to bottom right corner of front cover]. Trade PB "It's the year 2000 [ahem], and baseball has changed dramatically. Dan Quayle is the new commissioner, the Yankees have moved to New Jersey, and the Supreme Court has ruled that women can play in the major leagues. Enter Louise 'Balls' Gehrig, sporting baby blue eyes and a smile that can steal a heart almost as quickly as she ... View more info

[ex-library book with typical markings (incl. pocket on ffep), spine moderately turned, page edges a bit soiled, tape marks on covers; the jacket, however, is quite nice-looking and makes this a very presentable copy; the front panel and spine are basically flawless, but there is some discoloration along left edge of rear panel due to internal tape-repair of a long vertical tear]. View more info

[spine very slightly turned; one tiny tear in dj at bottom of spine]. A "Runyonesque" (it sez here) novel about a major league first baseman -- the only star player on a failing team -- who comes out as gay, whereupon the team's sleazy manager takes advantage of the situation by "outing" other closeted ballplayers and shaking up the "high-testosterone world of American baseball" by assembling the first all-gay team. View more info

[minimal shelfwear, slight fading to cloth at spine ends; jacket edgeworn, short ragged closed tear at top of front panel, shorter closed tear at top of rear panel, rubbing/scuffing to rear panel]. Juvenile novel with a college football background. A tough street kid from Little Italy, "where the gang played a lawless game, with no rules, no standards, no loyalties," goes to the University, and "finds on the football field that there is something more than ... View more info

[slight deterioration to binding at spine ends, otherwise a solid clean book with only minor shelfwear; jacket has a one-inch chip at top right corner of front panel, additional chipping at bottom of rear panel, a bit of paper loss at both ends of spine, rubbing/scuffing on spine and front panel]. First novel by the Chicago-born author who turned out over twenty novels during her career (plus a bunch of plays and screenplays), but is ultimately remembered almost entirely... View more info

[slight wear to heel of spine, faint dust-soiling to top edge; jacket very lightly soiled, small closed tear at bottom rear hinge with associated diagonal crease in rear panel]. INSCRIBED briefly ("Mark -- / Best of luck -- ") and SIGNED by the author on the ffep. Juvenile fiction about a team of 12-year-olds in the "Valley Basketball League." The Valley in question isn't identified by name, but it's probably the San Fernando Valley, given that the tea... View more info

[presentable ex-library book, minor wear, with small library stamps on ffep, all page edges, and in margins of occasional pages; two "DISCARD" stamps on ffep, inked call number on copyright page, tape marks on front and rear boards; the jacket is quite nice apart from some slight yellowing of the spine except the small spot where the call number label has been removed]. Baseball/coming-of-age novel, set in 1939, about a young white first baseman who dons blackfa... View more info

[beautiful copy, tight and clean, apparently unread, with no discernible wear; jacket similarly nice, bright and clean, but slightly marred by a teensy-tiny tear and small associated crease at top of front panel, and some minor bumping/wrinkling at spine ends]. A baseball novel that's ever so much more than that -- it's "about one man's life and the many lives he touches. It is about a twenty-five-year marriage and the nature and results of love; it is about friends... View more info

[binding solid, moderate wear to book at extremities, tiny vintage bookseller's label on rear pastedown; jacket has tiny tears and a bit of paper loss at most corners (Popular Fiction Series) Series Murder mystery set in Geneva, Switzerland; issued in this publisher's "Popular Fiction Series." Kauffman was a prolific author of all sorts of fiction, from serious social-issue material to magazine fluff. View more info

[solid clean copy, light shelfwear; jacket shows a little wear at extremities, minor soiling to rear panel]. "Dusty Blaisdale loves Mariana Fleming. He loves he so helplessly that when she tells him she never wants to see him again, he drives his only other love, his car, into the Atlantic. But he's saved from drowning by Rush, the champion bodybuilder of Muscle Beach, Long Island. Rush promises to help Dusty win Mariana back if Dusty will join him and the other ... View more info

[tight and clean, just a trace of wear at spine ends; jacket rubbed a bit along edges, slight wear at corners, a little wrinkling at both ends of spine, but all in all a nice example of this very wear-prone jacket]. Ex-Mets shortstop Eddie Keenan (.342 in the team's second consecutive pennant-winning season) becomes Warrior Iddikinnin, drafted by Earth and dispatched across the galaxy to civilize the feudal economy of the planet Melon. "Allen Kim Lang has produced a ... View more info

[spine turned, otherwise no significant wear]. "Consider the possibilities -- In the middle of a pennant race, a team's star shortshop falls in love with his second baseman." Lefcourt does consider those possiblities, and the result is this funny and touching novel. View more info

(price-clipped) [minimal wear to book, nice and clean with slight age-toning to edges of text block; jacket lightly soiled, just a bit browned at edges of flaps, moderate wear along right edge of front panel, a touch of wear at spine ends]. Juvenile fiction about a small-town junior high school baseball team, centered around one particular team member, Mike Pavelec, a troubled kid from Detroit who has a difficult year adjusting to life in a new school -- but he's helped... View more info

[good solid copy, slight browning to top page edges, slight fading to boards along top/bottom edges; jacket faintly soiled, very minor chipping at top of spine]. A novel obviously inspired by the New York college basketball point-shaving scandal of the early 1950s. "A driven coach forges five good boys from the playgrounds and ghettos of Brooklyn and the Bronx into possibly the best team ever to play college basketball, a team that will win both the NCAA and NIT cham... View more info

[nice clean copy, spine slightly turned, minor soiling to top edge; jacket shows just a bit of wear at corners, a couple of tiny tears along top edge, one small chip at top of rear panel]. (B&W photo frontispiece) Self-published novel that practically screams "make me into a movie, PLEASE!" The author, described as a "former boxer" (my research has uncovered that he compiled a not-too-stunning 4-11-3 record between 1925 and 1932), must have also been a g... View more info